CONSUMERS should expect electricity rates to go up at the start of next year given approved Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) recoveries and a new charge that will fund renewable energy incentives, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said on Friday.
Meralco has been allowed to recover some P30.7 billion due to the termination of several power supply agreements, while a P0.0371 per kilowatt-hour Green Energy Auction Allowance (GEA-All) will be added to the power bills beginning January.
“We are not just fixing the rate setting of power distribution utilities moving forward, we are also fixing the ones in the past,” ERC Chairman and CEO Francis Saturnino Juan told reporters.
“The reason why we have this process is in order to determine if they are charging the right amount back then so that we can arrange refunds later for consumers if needed,” he added.
The timing of the recovery is still being discussed. Juan said “our target now is to ensure that the recovery of these amounts will not impact so much the electricity consumers.”
The GEA-All, meanwhile, will be a separate line item in consumer bills that used to compensate the developers of renewable energy projects.
It will be similar to the feed-in tariff allowance (FIT-All) that is also charged to consumers, officials said.
The FIT-All rate, however, will be lowered to P0.2011 per kilowatt-hour beginning January from the current P0.2073.
Original article: ERC: Power rates to go up in January
